- Audio CD (9 Jan 2012)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Format: CD
- Label: Fiction
- ASIN: B005SCWL6G
- Other Editions: Audio CD | Vinyl | MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 9,690 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Product Description
Review
Once upon a time in prelapsarian 2003 – just before high-speed internet services made one-click clever-clogs out of today’s generation of musicians – The Maccabees started life as all good schoolboy bands should. Cutting their teeth with songs titled after picnics and wave machines, the youngsters rattled off plucky, heartfelt pastiches of big brother-type peers like The Libertines and Bloc Party, amassing a small army of fans and eventually striking a record deal with Fiction.
Following 2007 debut Colour It In with the ambitious Wall of Arms two years after that, the band displayed an emergent focus that – while still at times still in thrall to their idols – justified the early acclaim, and pulled them clear of the wreckage as the noughties guitar boom collapsed around their ears. Now they’re back with a third record trailed by the kind of hype usually reserved for zeitgeisty Channel 4 dramas, and even the band themselves – never exactly the gobbiest of guitar-slingers – have been keen to talk up its importance, admitting it’s the first time they’ve sounded completely themselves on record.
It’s a fair point, as well, since one listen to Given to the Wild will tell you this is not a wind worth relieving yourself into. Easing themselves back into the fray with Child (via a two-minute instrumental intro), this once most jittery of propositions succeeds in scaling electric peaks by almost imperceptible degrees, like an eagle soaring on thermals. Feel to Follow is an even more striking departure from the band’s post punk-ish roots – and maybe the best thing on here – with frontman Orlando Weeks airing his newly laidback vocal style, the track meandering in stream-like fashion before tilting into a gorgeous, waterfall chorus.
It sets a useful template for much of what follows: a slew of potentially overbearing indie-kid epics offset beautifully by discreet vocals, percussion and lilting arrangements at every turn (Given to the Wild is co-produced by ex-DFA man Tim Goldsworthy and Bruno Ellingham, though the band takes some of the credit for its measured feel). That quality is evident pretty much throughout, but picks of the bunch are Forever I’ve Known – all moody bass figures segueing into a hurricane-force crescendo – and closer Grew Up At Midnight, whose similarly huge finale seems to have the smell of main-stage fireworks in its nostrils.
Whether Given to the Wild provides the hoped-for kick up the festival billings this summer remains to be seen – at times the obsessive shading masks a lack of melodic punch – but its makers are right to be proud of it. If only all bands had the guts and honesty of The Maccabees, maybe they’d get round to making third records as good as this.
--Alex Denney
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Loved the single - Pelican - very catchy (and, incidentally, also a great video!) However, there is nothing remotely like it in sound on the rest of the album. It has the feel of a seventies concept album in some ways but is also cool, sassy and contemporary. I am getting a great buzz out of it even after several listens and there is also a subtlety which rewards repeated listening. Love it!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
More produced than previous albumns so a bigger, more lush sound. Gets into your head and doesn't leave, cheers you up on the tube.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Album of the year so far. Never heard these guys play before but hell, they blew my mind especially after a couple of listens. From beginning to end, make sure you play at full volume!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
2012 has just got much brighter...
Had heard of this band by the name of The Maccabees some time ago, but for whatever reason didn't give them much thought. Read more
Published 11 days ago by Mark B
Love It!
This is my first encounter with the Macabees, apart from Toothpaste kisses, and I love it.
Every single track is individual, I've been listening to it constantly for weeks and... Read more
Every single track is individual, I've been listening to it constantly for weeks and... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Alimack
Top Summer Tunage
I'm not a huge Maccabees fan, their previous albums are decent and they have produced a few good singles in the past. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mennis
Lovely music to listen to in the car or home!
I've never bought a Maccabees CD before, but I'm very glad I did, I am now a big big fan!
Published 2 months ago by jojo
Definitely different, but great!
I will admit, at first I was worried I was going to find it boring. Initially there were only two songs I was really interested in (Pelican and Feel to Follow). Read more
Published 2 months ago by M. Tolman
The Maccabees Mature
Given To The Wild, The Maccabees third album, is a triumph. Its host of good songs follow a mellow-but-rock style that is difficult to classify, although comparisons with elements... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Music is one of my radars
Nothing like Coldplay
This will be my album of 2012, easily - and it's only March now.
Couldn't even pick out my favourite tracks if I tried.
Couldn't even pick out my favourite tracks if I tried.
Published 2 months ago by Victoria
Given to the Wild restores hope for the British 'indie' scene
Comment welcome: [...]
Before The Maccabees latest album release, Given to the Wild, I was strongly losing faith in 'indie' music in Britain. Read more
Before The Maccabees latest album release, Given to the Wild, I was strongly losing faith in 'indie' music in Britain. Read more
Published 3 months ago by OpinionOrbit
Awesome album
This album is a great listen. Perfect to listen to whilst you are out in the open countryside. If you liked the xx album then this is along the same chilled out vibe. Read more
Published 3 months ago by jojofidget
titleforreview
Best album they have made so far, very much different from their earlier stuff, special mention for the tracks "glimmer" and "feel to follow"
Published 3 months ago by penname
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